Kim Admits North Korean Diet Paltry

The North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il has vowed to end his people's dependence on corn, in a rare acknowledgment of his regime's failure to improve living standards.

Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of the ruling Communist Party, said Kim's immediate ambition is to end his people's dependence on corn for subsistence and to feed them rice and wheat products instead.

"I'm the most heartbroken by the fact that our people are still living on corn," he was quoted as saying. "What I must do now is to feed them white rice, bread and noodles generously."

The paper did not disclose when or where Kim's remarks were made or how he intended to improve the diet of North Koreans, who have for years suffered food shortages and even starvation.